Mason&#39;s aligning fixture



Oct. 27, 1953 A. w. CRAIG ETAL MASONS ALIGNING FIXTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 30, 1950 /Zzezzi arzt zwaard I? Z. Yeqzzf Oct. 27, 1953 A. w. CRAIG ET AL MAsoNs ALIGNING FIXTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. C50, 1950 oct 27 1953 A. w. CRAIG ET AL 2,656,608

MASON'S ALIGNING FIXTURE Filed Sept. 30, @950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 27, 1953 MASONS ALIGNING FIXTURE Adrian W. Craig and Robert L. Sears, Des Moines, Iowa, and S. Eugene Hubbard, Chicago, Ill.; said Hubbard assignor to said Craig and said Sears, jointly Application September 30, 195,0, Serial No. 187,742

(Cl. 33--85l il Claims. l

This invention relates to aligning xtures suitable for use by a mason in connection with accurately leveling a first course of bricks or other building units, and aligning the subsequent courses of the wall made from suc-h units, which nxtures assure that all courses will be parallel to the iirst course. The use of such xtures simplies the construction of the Wall by eliminating the use of level and plumb line during such construction and makes possible the laying of the Walls in less time than heretofore.

One object of the invention is to provide an aligning fixture which is an improvement with respect to construction and operation compared with the xture disclosed in the co-pen-ding application of Craig and Sears, Serial No. 114,976, filed September 10, 1949.

More specifically an object ofthe present invention is to provide a carriage for a line carrier and an elevating mechanism for the carriage which can be operated from any point along the vertical height of an upright which supports the carriage, thus permitting operation from a convenient' point when standing on the ground, or when standing on a scaffold or the like after the iirst story of a building has been laid.

Another object is to provide an indexing mechacourse of bricks without the necessity ofV having p;

to align a pointer with indicating marks on the upright. or use some similar arrangement.

Still another object is to. provide the indexing mechanism in the carriage also readily operablei from.. any Vertical point on the upright and which accurately positions the carriage with respect to the openings provided. in the upright, thus permitting equal advance of the line carriers on the various uprights at all the corners of the buildmg.

A further object is to provide an improved line carrier mounted on the upright and provided with a scuif plate arrangement to protect the line from being frayed and` broken, the line carrier being also provided with a retracting arrangement which may be operated from a point adjacent the lower end of the upright to permit return of the line carrier to the bottom of the upright` with the line clear of the Wall so` that. it does not rub therealong.

A further object is to provide other minor im provements in the design of a masons alinging fixture including an arrangement to tie two adjacent uprights together, a dual line carrier for building double walls, an indexing adjustment to correct for the uprights when mounted at difterent elevations, a scale shift arrangement on the carriage for shifting the indexing mechanism thereof from one scale of building units to another, and an upright support having means to engage the corner of a wall footing and take up any play in the support` With these and other objects in view, our invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts o1' our masons aligning fixture, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more full-y set forth, pointed out in our claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a masons aligning nxture embodying our present invention, the fixture being shown mounted on the footing of a wall and stakes for plumbing the fixture being illustrated which may be driven. into the ground.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2--1 of Figure 1 to show the support for the upright of the fixture and one method of mounting it on the footing of a Wall.

Figure 3` is a vertical sectional view through the upright of our fixture as taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the upper end of the fixture. f

Figure 5 is a plan view of two xtures tied together with a tie rod.

Figure 6 is a perspective View of' a carriage and line carrier of our iixture.

Figure 'I is a vertical sectional view through the carriage and indexing mechanism therefor.

Figure 8 is a sectional view on the line 8.-8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a sectional view on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a sectional view on the. line itl0 of Figure 8 showing an indexing pawl engaged with the upright.

Figure 11 is asimilar sectional view showing the carriage being elevated.

Figure 12 is a similar sectional view showing the indexing pawl released.

Figure 13 is a sectional view on the line |3-l3 of Figure 10.

Figure 14 is a perspective View of a line carrier and an auxiliary line carrier for double walled buildings.

Figure 15 is an enlarged plan View of the lefthand line carrier element in Figure le; and

Figure 16 is a plan view of the right-hand line carrier element of Figure 14.-.

On the accompanying drawings we have used the reference numeral 2! to indicate a support. The support 2li may be strap-like in character with a vertical part to be bolted as at 2| to a footing 22 of a wall or secured thereto in any desired manner. The support 23 is twisted adjacent its outer end so as to have a horizontal part above which we mount an angle-shaped base Below the base 23 and the support 26 we provide a section of channel |01 having a clamp screw |53 threaded through its iianges and a U..shaped clip |09 swivel-mounted on its inner end to engage the corner of the footing 22. The outer end of the clamp screw has an eye il@ in which a rod or spike may be inserted for tightening the screw to take up any play in the support E@ with respect to the wall footing before our aligning xture is mounted on the support 22.

Our fixture includes an upright 24 which is preferably a square tube. In its lower end a stub shaft 25 is welded and this is adapted to be clamped against a bead 26 of the base 23 by a U- bolt 21 and a wing nut 28. Referring to Figure 3,V it is obvious that the bead 25 permits slight adjustment of the angle of the upright toward the right or left. The upright can also be adjusted in the U-bolt 21 in a vertical plane at right'angles to the plane just mentioned. These adjustments are for plumbing purposes.

To aid in plumbing the upright we provide guy tubes 29 in which guy rods Sil are telescopically mounted. The upper ends of the tubes are pivoted at 3| in forked swivel heads 32 which are lrotatable about a shouldered stud 33 threaded into a plug 34 welded in the upper end of the upright 2 4.

Guy stakes 43 are provided at the lower ends of the guy rods 36 for driving into the ground, or

' the lower ends of the guy rods may be attached the caps are set screws 36 las shown in Figure 3.

Additionally the guy rods 33 may be provided with turnouekles 31 for line adjustment so that the uprights 24 may be accurately plumbed at the various corners of the building, before construction of the wall is started.

Also when there are two adjacent up-rights as for instance at the corner 4| of the building and Verticallyrslidable on therupright 24 is a car- Y riage indicated generally at C and which is best shown in Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9*. The carriage C is provided with a plurality of rollers 44, 45, 46, 41, 48, 49 and 49a at vario-us points around the e upright so that the carriage may be raised and lowered with respect to the upright with a minimum of friction and effort.

The carriage C may be conveniently raised and lowered by a raising and lowering rope 50 having one end connected to an opening 5| of the carriage (see Figure 7) and its other end connected to an opening 52 thereof. The rope extends upwardly from the opening 5| over a pulley 53 mounted adjacent the top of the upright 24 as shown in Figure 3, then downwardly inside the upright and under a second pulley 54 before returning upwardly to the opening 52. Obviously the rope may be grasped anywhere between the pulleys 53 and 54 and the carriage raised or lowered thereby.

The carriage C supports a line carrier 55 which we have disclosedas being a channel shaped bar provided on one end with a line carrier bracket 56 adapted to carry a masons line 51. The bracket 55 has a pair of scu plates 58 which are notched as at 5S so that as shown in Figures 15 and 16, the line approximately contacts the wall surface when the scuff plates are in contact therewith. This affords some protection to the line to prevent it from being frayed and broken at the places where it bends to enter the line carrier brackets 56. The m'asons line 51, after passing through the notches 59 of the scuff` plates, may be secured to the line carrier 55 bywrapping them around the line holding cleats 60 secured to the line carriers 55.

The line carriers are adjustable toward and away from the wall by having slots 6| therein to slide on sleeves 52 and S3 as shown in Figure 8. The sleeve 62 is merely a spacer between a washer 54, a bolt 65 and the carriage C, the bolt being secured to the `carriage by a nut B5. The sleeve 53 is mounted on a clamp bolt 61 onwhich a clamp handle 68 is screw-threadedly mounted. The clamp handle 58 clamps the web of the lin-e carrier 55 between a washer 69 and a sleeve 15 so that the adjustment can be retained.

The sleeve 63 and the bolt 61 are carried by a cam 1i having a handle 12. The cam is mounted between the flanges 13 and the web 14 of an insert of the cross section shown in Figure 8 which is secured in the front of the carri-age C as by rivets or the like 15. The clamp bolt 61 has a square portion 16 slidable in a slot 11 of the carriage C and a slot 18 of the insert 13-14 as shown in Figure 8. The sleeve 63 adjacent its other end is slidable in a slot 19 of the carriage C and a slot of the insert 13'-'14.

Due to the arrangement just described, when the cam 1| is reversed to the dotted position shown in Figure '1 by swinging the handle 12 from its upward position counterclockwise to its lowered position, the clamp screw l31 and the sleeve 63 are slid rearwardly (to therright) in the slots 11, 18, 19 and 8G to the dotted position and carry with them the line carrier 55, the bracket 56 and the masons line 51 for a purpose which `will hereinafter appear. For swinging the cam handle 12 in this manner, we provide a hooked rod El' which may be of suflcient length to reach to Yany convenient position of operation along the upright 44. Y

Within the carriage C we provide :an indexing mechanism including a channel-shaped pawl box 82 secured to the carriage by a, clamp screw 83 and a wing nut 54. The screw extends through -a lateral slot 85 ofthe carriage C so that the pawl box can be shifted laterally and then locked either at the lower end of the slot illustrated in Figure 8 by a channel-shaped clamp plate 88 or adjacent the upper end of the slot when the :clamp plate is reversed for changing scales as will hereinafter appear.

The pawl box is also vertically adjustable relative to the carriage C and this is accomplished by providing a vertical slot for the clamp screw 83. A cover plate ||2 is provided for the pawl box to prevent mortar and other foreign material from dropping into it.

Within the pawl box a pawl 81 is pivoted on a pivot bolt B8 and is constrained to swing clockwise in Figure 10 by a spring 89. The pawl is thus constrained to enter lany one of a series of spaced openings 9|! in the upright 24 :and due to the angle of shoulders 9| and SI2` of the pawl the carriage may be freely raised relative to the uprlght as shown in Figure 11 but will be locked against downward movement as shownf in Figure 10 whenever the pawl enters one of the openings 90. The pawl, however, may be released against the bias of the spring 89 as in Figure 12 and this is accomplished by the following described mechanism.

A pawl release vcrank 93 is provided, the crank pin 94 of which is located in an opening 95 of the pawl. As long as the crank pin 94 is in the position shown in Figures 10 and 11,. the spring 89 may rotate the pawl clockwise. When the crank is rotated clockwise to the position shown in Figure 12, it holds the pawl in the released or unlocked position.

The crank 93 is mounted Ifor oscillation in the pawl box 82 and has a pawl release lever 96 mounted thereon and provided with a pair of eyes 91 and 98. The ends of a pawl release rope 99 are connected with the eyes 9-1 and 98' and` intermediate the ends of the rope it extends upwardly over a top pulley then downwardly inside the `upright 24 and under :a bottom pulley `IIJI. Thus the pawl 8-1 may be rendered operable as in Figures 10 and 1l or released as in Figure 12 from any convenient position along the upright.

When a double wall is to be laid as in` Figure 14, it is desirable to have a second masons line 51a in a predetermined position with respect to the first line 51. We accomplish this by providing a second line carrier bracket 56a supported by means of a rod |02 and a clamp ,A

Practical operation In the operation of our masons Ialigning fixture, one of the lixtures as shown in Figure 1 is mounted at each corner 4| of the building and additional ones may be located at jogs such as a indicated at 42 in Figure 5. The lowermost indexing openingV 9U of each upright 24 is located at approximately the same elevation.` So that the courses of building units in the wall will be level, the pawl boxes may then be vertically ad.- justed relative to the carriages C so that all line carrier brackets '6 carry the line 51 in a true level horizontal. plane.

The uprights 24 are plumbed after thestakes 43 are located by means of the set screws 36 provided for the guy tubes and rods 29 and 3U (and the turnbuckles 31 if used) .l This insures that the: line carriers 55 will be advanced in a true vertical path for keeping the corners and jog of the wall vertical. l

After the masons line 51 (and 51a if used) strung through the line carrier brackets 56 (and 56a) the first course of brick is laid, the oarriages C, of course, being at the lower ends of the uprights. After the course on one wall is laid and the mason turns the corner, his helper may index the carriage C on the upright 24 at the starting corner of the wall upwardly one open ing 90 on such upright. This is accomplished by grasping the rope and raising it whereupon the carriage will be raised with the pawl yB1 be-` ing forced out of the lowermost opening 90 due to the incline of its shoulder 92. dragging along the upright 24 as shown in Figure 11. The cerriage is advanced upwardly until the pawl clicks into the next opening 90 and then the rope 50 is lowered for seating the pawl shoulder 9| against the lower edge of this opening as in Figure 10. The other fixtures are likewise Vadjusted one wall length behind the mason so that by the time he completes one circuit of the wall, the line is in position for the next course of building units.

After the nrst story has beenl completed (and disregarding the auxiliary line carrier a which will be described later), it is desirable to` move the line 51 back so that it clears the wall and particularly at its corners instead of dragging on the wall as the carriages are returned to the lower ends oi' the uprights. This is accomplished by swinging the cam handle 12 from` the full-line position of Figure 7 to the dotted line position either directly by hand or by using the hook rod 8|. The carriages are moved down again to the lower ends of the uprights and this is accomplished by first releasing the pawls 81 by pulling downwardly on the ropes 99 to rotate the pawl release cranks 83 to the position shown in Figure 12. After the carriages are lowered,` the rope 99 is raised for returning the pawl release crank to the position shown in Figures 10 and 11 for automatic indexing again as the carriages are raised step .by step.

The ilxtures are then remounted at the top of the first story and inplace of the stakes 43 the lower ends of the guy rods 3uA may be nailed or otherwise suitably attached to the second story floor. The cam levers 12 are swung again to the full line position of Figure 7 for moving the line carriers 55 forwardly to hold the lines 51 in the proper vertical planes (the outer surfaces of the first story walls).

The arrangement of indexing mechanism. and the ropes for controlling. them and the move-- ment of the carriages vertically along the uprights makes for convenience of operation and facilitates operation to such an extent that the indexing can be accomplished in a minimum o! time which leaves the masons helper`| with time enough to furnish the mason with building units and mortar in the usual manner. A mason and his helper when using our fixtures can accordingly build up a wall in much lessI time than heretofore possible.

During' the construction of a double wall, the auxiliary line carrier 56a` illustrated in Figure 14 is used and as the carriages on the various uprights 24 are advanced upwardly,` the auxiliary line 51a as well as the line 51 will be elevated step by step as the courses ofbuilding units are laid. When the carriages are tol be lowered, the set screws |05 may be' loosened and therods |02 removed and then after the uprights are reset for the second` story, the rods may be replaced whereupon the set collars |04 will serve to again accurately 4space the auxiliary lines `51a with respect to the main lines 51.

"With respect to construction and operation of the clamp plate 85 in Figure 8, it will be noted that in addition to the openings 90 there are also openings 90a and the spacing of the openings 90 may be different than the spacing of the openings 9ia. For instance 2" and 22/3 are standard building unit measurements. These openings can be accurately drilled or punched to these spacings and to change from one to the other'it is merely necessary to shift the pawl box 82 to align with the openings 90a instead of the openings 90. This is accomplished by removing the wing nut '84 and the clamp plate 8G, sliding the clamp screw 83 from the bottom of the slot 85 in Figure 8 to the top thereof, and reversing and replacing the clamp plate after which the wing nut is screwed on to the screw again.

The rollers 44, 45, 46, 41, 4B, 49 and 49a provided for the carriage C make it easy to move it along the upright 24 and the cam 'H provides a ready means for retracting the line from the surface of the wall so that it is not dragged along this surface as the carriage is returned downwardly. The various features of improvement herein disclosed increase the usefulness of the xtureV and provide for simpler and more accurate operation thereof.

lSome changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of our masons aligning fixture without departing from the real spirit and purpose of our invention, and it is our intention to cover by our claims any modified forms of Vstructure or use of mechanical equivalents Which may be reasonably included Within their scope. Y

We claim as our invention:

1. A masons aligning fixture having a plumbed upright with a carriage vertically movable thereon and a line carrier mounted on said carriage, a pair of ropes, one of said ropes being connected with said carriage, pulleys adjacent the top and pulleys adjacent the bottom of said upright, said ropes extending therearound, said one of said ropesbeing adapted for moving said carriage with respect to said upright by manipulation of said rope, and indexing means carried by said carriage Afor moving said carriage step-by-step along said upright, said indexing meansincluding a pawl biased to engage said upright and means to manuall'y release said pawl from said'upright comprising the other one of said ropes, the ends thereof lbeing connected to said release means.

2. In aV masons aligning fixture having a plumbed upright with a carriage vertically movable thereon and aline carrier mounted on said carriage, said carriage having an indexing mech- 'anism including a pawl normally biased toward said upright, said upright having spaced openings to receive said paw] at predetermined vertical positions corresponding to building units, said carriage being freely movable upwardly and prevented from downward movement by said pawl, flexible means having its ends operatively connected with said pawlfor retraoting it, and pulleys at the top and bottom of said upright forV said flexible means to extend around so that said pawl may be retracted from a position adjacent the bottom of said upright. i

`3. In a masons laligning fixture having a plumbedjupright with a carriage vertically movable thereon and aline carrier mounted on said carriage, a rope connected with saidy carriage, vpulleys adjacent the top and bottom of said upright, said rope extending therearound'for mov.- ing said carriage with respect to said upright by manipulation of said rope, said carriage hav- Y ing an indexing mechanism including a pawl normally biased toward said upright, said upright having spaced openings to receive said pawl at predetermined vertical positions corresponding to building units, and a second rope with pulleys at the top and bottom of said upright and connected with said pawl for releasing the same.

4. In a masons aligning fixture having a plumbed upright with a carriage vertically movable thereon, a line carrier mounted on said carriage and a line carried thereby and having vertical building unit joint indicating marks, said upright being provided with spaced openings, indexing mechanism carried by said carriage and including a pay-.1l for step-by-step cooperation with said openings, means on said carriage for rendering said pawl operable or inoperable, a pulley at the bottom and a pulley at the top of said upright, and a flexible element connected with said means and extending upwardly over said first pulley, then downwardly under said second pulley and upwardly again to said means.

5. In a masons aligning fixture having a plumbed upright with a carriage vertically movable thereon and a line carrier mounted on said carriage, a rope'connected with said carriage, pulleys adjacent the top and bottom of said upright, said rope extending therearound for moving said carriage with respect to said upright by manipulation of said rope, said line carrier being retractable relative to said carriage, and a cam for effecting such retraction.

6. In a masons aligning fixture having a plumbed upright with a carriage vertically movable thereon and a line carrier mounted on said carriage, a rope connected with said carriage, pulleys adjacent the top and bottom of said upright, said rope extending therearound for moving said carriage with respect to said upright by manipulation of said rope, said line carrier being retractable relative to said carriage, a cam for effecting such retraction andan extension for operating said cam from a position vertically remote from said cam.

'7. In a masons aligning fixture having a plumbed upright With a carriage vertically movable thereon, a line carrier mounted on said carriage and a line carried thereby, said line carrier having a pointed end, the sides of the point hav- Y ing fiange-like scuff plates thereon arranged at an acute angle to each other and notched to `receive said line so that the line clears the corners of the wall, said line having vertical joint indicators thereon.

8. In a masons aligning xture Vhaving a plumbed upright with a carriage vertically movable thereon and a line carrier mounted on said carriage, said upright being provided with spaced openings, indexing mechanism carried by said carriage for step-by-step cooperation therewith, and an auxiliaryV line carrier mounted on said rst line carrier for carrying an auxiliary lineV spaced from a line carried by Said line carrier for use in the construction of a double Wall; said auxiliary line carrier being adjustable toward and away fromsaid first line carrier to vary the total thickness'of said Vdouble wall.

9. In a masons aligning fixture having a plumbed upright with a carriage vertically movable thereon Vand a line carrier mounted on said carriage, a support for said upright including a vertical flange having a bead thereon to be engaged by said upright. a U-bolt to secure said upright to said ange and against said bead, an indexing mechanism in said carriage, said upright having spaced openings to coact therewith to index said carriage at predetermined vertical positions corresponding on said upright to building units.

ADRIAN W. CRAIG.

ROBERT L. SEARS.

S. EUGENE HUBBARD.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Number Name Date Lambdin Feb. 4, 1890 Larsen Mar. 24, 1896 Samuelson Feb. 11, 1908 Platt Apr. 29, 1913 Winter Oct. 4, 1927 Klopsteg May 11, 1929 Winter Aug. 23, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany June 6, 1908 Great Britain Dec. 12, 1946v 

